SANDHURST will get its chance at a BFNL netball three-peat, after stifling Kangaroo Flat's challenge in their second semi-final showdown at the QEO on Saturday night.
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The Dragons looked fired-up and switched on from the opening centre pass, on their way to a 41-27 win.
They were brilliantly led at both ends of the court by their joint coach and key playmaker Heather Oliver at goal attack, and young star Imogen Sexton, who delivered another cracking performance in defence.
Sandhurst will now meet the winner of next week's preliminary final between Kangaroo Flat and Eaglehawk in the grand final in a fortnight's time, after the Hawks defeated Gisborne buy on goal in Sunday's knock-out semi-final.
The Dragons will have the chance to emulate their star-studded teams of 2005-07, which notched up a hat-trick of flag wins.
Joint coach Tamara Gilchrist praised a convincing performance by her Dragons side, which has shown all the signs of clicking into high-gear at the business end of the season.
"We're really happy to go straight through, it takes the pressure off a little bit," she said.
"There is no worse final to play in then a prelim - somebody is always heartbroken and someone is always happy, so we're happy to avoid that.
"It was a super-defensive game and a pretty low scoring game for how hard both teams were working to get a turnover.
"It was a hard slog. I know the score blew out a bit in the end, but it was tough going. They kept coming back, the margin was probably only four or five goals most of the game."
Chelsea Sartori was the Roos' best with a creative and hard-working game at centre, while Ella Wicks made her presence felt at wing attack
A tough eight-days for Kangaroo Flat began with a season-ending ankle injury to elite defender Kate Burton in last weekend's qualifying win over Gisborne.
Her drive out of defence and strong intercepts were missed against the Dragons.
Gilchrist, who has been at the helm for the Dragons' back-to-back premierships in 2017-18 along with Oliver, said her side would aim to keep their preparation as similar as possible to that which has worked to this point of the season.
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